LIVING WELL TO DIE WELL: WHAT IF DEATH COMES AS A RESCUE- EMEKA EZEKWE
A lot of people have always viewed death as something to be scared of. To many of us, death connotes negativity, even in comics, death is viewed and portrayed as evil and dark, a grim reaper, something unholy. Should there be something like a “happy death”? What would happen if we begin to think of death as a sunshine of new possibilities? According to Chinese wisdom: “Men laugh with joy when a child is born, while the child cries alone in grief. Men weep in sorrow when their loved ones die, while the dead one rejoices alone” Everyone wants to be alive, but, no one wants to die, if we are not too young to be born, we should not be too young to die. We live to eventually die, but “how” we die matters, the “process” of dying matters; death is nothing to be feared.
Death, in itself should be a wonderful experience, death is suspended animation, it’s the process of dying that is the problem.In some cultures, emphasis is placed on how one dies and not if he or she died. When l was growing up, I watched a movie on death titled :Bloodline, where a group of medical students experimented with death and coming back to life, in their playful experiment,death is induced and then the person is brought back to life,the objective is to experience death,one of students could not be revived using the electric shock procedure they applied ,they became frantic,but,eventually the girl was revived,when she opened her eyes ,she exclaimed “l didn’t know that death is so beautiful “Have we ignorantly been antagonistic to death?
Ironically,most of our perceptions and what we know about death is shaped by prevailing religious and secular opinions and literature about its form,nature and consequences.Everyone is “afraid of dying ” in itself,all we care about is the end,death and what will happen afterwards, but while the major issue should have revolved around“dying”,we ignorantly worry more about death,not the “process” of dying.A dead person is no longer aware of our surroundings,wailing or gnashing of teeth,a dead person is in a new realm,enjoying his new peaceful transitional bliss and phase .
Fear is a human emotion and plays a dominant role in how human react to things. Ironically, fear does not prevent death, rather, it limits life. It makes us not to live our lives fully. Most origin of fears are based more on mythologies, fables, religion and true events.Yet,it plays the most dominant role in how we live our lives .It may have succeeded in stopping us from living our lives fully and intentionally.
In reality,nothing in life should be feared,all we should seek is to understand life and live it,that’s all.The purpose of living should be to prepare for the moment of death because it is inevitable,by preparing for the moment of death,one learns to live well. Death should be the beginning of a new experience, a continuation of life in another realm. Living well, will therefore translate to dying well.To live well,we must conquer the fear of living which is always rooted in the fear of death.These fears ,though mostly misplaced ,are manifested in a number of ways we live our lives , like in making decisions,mistakes,confrontations,commitment,life,fearing fear ,et al.
I remember the 2007 blockbuster movie of yore:Bucket list ,featuring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman ,two terminally ill cancer patients escape from hospital to try to live intentionally before death beckons ,they made a list and tried to tick off everything in the list before they die ,but,before cancer ,where were they?what did they do with their lives? Existing, instead of living? Making money, Instead of applying money for a true life of fulfillment and happiness?maybe,they forgot to live until death hovered around. Imagine being told that you have one year to live and at the same time being given a loaded credit card to live intentionally in the last one year of your life, what will you do? some people may become so depressed and may decide to spend the year praying for a miracle to make death go away because of fear,fear of going to hell,fear of leaving loved ones behind ,fear of unaccomplished dreams? People like us, will use the opportunity to do everything that we have not done before now,including touring the whole universe,yes,one year is a lot of time bro. 😂
Most people who have had a near death experience or who have encountered death and returned to tell their stories, all have one thing in common, they no longer live their lives timidly. They open themselves up for life’s challenges, they receive life as an adventure instead of an ordeal. Their businesses and lives suddenly become full of choices and freedom.They start to live their dreams while still awake.There’s a story about a terminally ill guy,who had 6 months to live,he became so excited about it,especially the thought that death will finally come to his rescue and free him from all his earthly worries,his debts,he was owing so much 🤣🤣🤣he became so engrossed with little things of life,things he initially thought never mattered,like looking people in the eyes ,watching lizards lazily suntan,watching animals mate,focusing on little things that bring joy to life.This life is an opportunity to live,we must not disappoint God.We were given this life because we are strong enough to live it 💪
Imagine life as a supermarket where you’re allowed to buy anything you desire ,but,without money ,what will you buy?😳Especially,if you’re asked to barter with stuff you already have. A terminally sick person may be willing to give up all his wealth to be well again,we may also discover that things that were not so “important” suddenly takes precedence over many things. If we divide our lives into categories like relationships, careers, finance, happiness, spiritual needs, family, pleasure, wisdom, knowledge, we may discover all of a sudden that some things are more important than others, or that money is not even the major factor .
Life’s challenges are never meant to devastate or subdue us, the challenges may have been placed there for our enjoyment and entertainment, to remind us that we are alive or maybe, to remind us that life has kept its own part of the bargain.Imagine,living life without challenges,it would have been so boring after all 😳
The mystery and power of death is not meant to only serve those that have died ,it’s also meant to serve us while alive by savoring the lessons contained in its mystery. Death is our wedding with eternity.
We may not have power over how we die or when we die ,but,at least,we can chose how to live :
Happiness is a human right .
Go find the joy in your life today,the joys of life are found in little things of life.
Live intentionally
Emeka Ezekwe
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